Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c12.55

c12.55

One of the most interesting crops grown by the people of the Harappā civilization was cotton, of which a fortunate single find at Mohenjo-daro has given conclusive evidence. Fragments of a true cotton textile, dyed red with madder, were found sticking to the side of a silver vase, and it is clear that the plant which produced the fibre is of the *Gossypium* arboreum type - that grown today as a cultivated form, and not one of the wild cottons. Cotton cloth is likely to have been an important article of commerce for the Harappā civilization, and it is probable that some at least of the trade with Mesopotamia was in cotton goods. By later historic times in that country Indian cotton was known under the name of *sindhu*, and this in the form *sindon* passed into Greek.